BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The wait is finally over for graduate student Dan Schaffer.

In his final appearance at a NCAA Regional meet, he placed sixth overall in the men's 5,000 at the NCAA East Region Meet on Friday night at Indiana University. As a result, he qualifies for the NCAA Championships, which will take place June 8-11 at the University of Oregon. For Schaffer, it marks his first trip to a NCAA Championship Meet.

Racing in the first of two heats in the 5,000 on Friday night, Schaffer was sixth with a time of 13:39.37. The top five finishers in each heat automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship Meet along with the next two fastest times. When the top time in the second heat was officially 13:42.86, Schaffer earned one of the two wild cards to the NCAA Championships.

"It still hasn't sunk in," Schaffer said. "I am ecstatic that I get to represent Binghamton at the NCAA Championships. It was tough waiting for the second heat to get done with but when I saw the time, it felt great."

"Dan executed to perfection tonight," distance coach Annette Acuff said. "It was truly a special night filled with excitement and emotion."

The top time in Schaffer's heat – and the top overall time – was 13:38.05 by Dylan Jacobs of Notre Dame.

Schaffer is the first Binghamton men's track & field athlete to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships since Jesse Garn in the 800 in 2016. He is also the fourth Bearcat men's runner to reach the national outdoor meet, joining Garn (2015 and 2016 in the 800), Rory Quiller (2006 and 2007 in the pole vault) and Erik van Ingen (2011 and 2012 in the 1,500).

This marks Schaffer's third trip to the NCAA East Region Meet. He was 38th in the 5,000 in 2019 and was 15th in the 1,500 last year.

The trip to the NCAA Championships is the biggest accomplishment in Schaffer's illustrious career at Binghamton. He is a five-time America East individual champion in track & field as well as the defending conference cross country champion. Schaffer has also earned All-Northeast Region honors in cross country twice during his career. Until Friday night, however, an appearance at a national championship meet had eluded him.

With Schaffer's ticket punched to the NCAA Championships, the Bearcats' attention now turns to their three women who will be competing on Saturday. Fellow graduate student Emily Mackay is in the finals of the 1,500 at 5:15 p.m. Senior Aziza Chigatayeva is in the 3,000 Steeplechase (SC) at 5:40 p.m. followed by graduate student Brittany Korsah in the triple jump at 6 p.m.